Advivum Journeys - England

kent, England

Powerful, luxurious life coaching retreat at an elegant, steeped-in-history, Queen Anne-style mansion

Run by epiphany designer and coach Tania Carriere, these retreats at the charming Goodnestone Manor, once a popular haunt of novelist Jane Austen, are for anyone looking for a new path in life. Using group rituals, workshops and solo activities, Radical Sabbatical – Your Next Chapter draws on Tania’s expertise in psychology, coaching, theatre and travel to help you set a new vision fuelled by passion and purpose. Private, bespoke retreats are available for corporate groups.

our Reviewer caroline sylge says:

‘Tania tells us that, just like the sugar dishes, candle holders and salt pots we are polishing, everyone tarnishes, and we are here to polish ourselves so we can rediscover our intricate patterns again’

Read the full review

Queen of Retreats says:

‘Jane Austen was a frequent visitor to Goodnestone because her brother Edward married the owner’s daughter Elizabeth. You can sit and journal in the writing room where she penned Pride and Prejudice. Tania chose the house as a location because of the amazing view down the lane, over the hills and to the horizon – she wants people to feel that same expansive excitement about their own lives’

Experiences

The signature retreat is Radical Sabbatical – Your Next Chapter, which urges you to step away from your everyday into a new mindset and sense of self, in which you dare to dream big. You’ll be taught daily sunrise and sunset rituals to ground your learning and create a practice to take home.

Expect exploratory exercises, partner work, learning games, wellbeing rituals and self-discovery challenges. You’ll have three workbooks and two private coaching sessions before and after the retreat.

Two curated hikes that test your wayfinding and decision-making will take you along centuries-old paths through glorious fields, farmland, paddocks and orchards. Enjoy the award-winning garden, with its hidden messages about change and growth.

Spaces

The manor house, which dates back to 1704, has supremely elegant drawing rooms and parlours. Workshops take place in a panelled library, where you’ll find shelves of leather-bound hard-backed books and a gorgeous multicoloured chaise longue, and in an elegant drawing room, where grand 18th century paintings of the house’s previous inhabitants adorn the walls.

The 2,000 acres of land and woodlands, along with a 15-acre garden, offer paths to walk and benches where you can stop and ponder. The Serpentine Walk, created for the gentile ladies of old who wanted a taste of the outdoors, without dirtying their dresses, makes for an enjoyable stroll.

Bedrooms in the Manor House are gorgeously refurbished, arty, inspiring and hugely comfortable. Each room has a reading chair, a writing nook where you can journal, and huge windows from where you can gaze at rolling countryside. Some have en-suite bathrooms; others share a bathroom.

Sustenance

Eat around a circular wooden table in the airy dining room or in the formal dining room. Freshly cooked farm-to-table meals feature local, in-season produce. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free diets are catered for and meat and fish are also served.

Breakfast might be smoked avocado on sourdough, along with boiled eggs, muffins, granola, berries and yoghurts. For lunch expect foraged wild garlic pesto with homemade flatbread and vegetable soup, or vegetable and nut sausage rolls with homemade chutney. Suppers are three courses, with pre-ordered wine.

Comfort stations offer warm, home-baked biscuits, fruits and cheeses, along with tea and coffee.

Goodnestone Park Manor, Goodnestone, Kent, England